// Amazon continues on its mission to stop fake reviews by targetting the fraudsters that facilitate the posting of fake or inflated reviews in exchange for money
// Following its recent legal actions, three major brokers of fake reviews have already ceased operating on the marketplace
Amazon has revealed that three major brokers of fake reviews have ended their schemes targeting the online giant, resulting in nearly 350,000 people no longer being incentivized to write fake reviews on the site.
As it continues on with its next target for legal action, Amazon said that its customers tell them that product reviews are one of the most useful features in its stores and a key reason why they enjoy shopping at Amazon.
While reviews give customers the confidence to buy or not buy a product and provide a way for honest entrepreneurs to differentiate their products from similar items, Amazon emphasizes that reviews are only beneficial if they accurately reflect people’s real experiences with a product.
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Earlier this year, the online marketplace took legal actions against three major fake review brokers—Fivestar Marketing, Matronex, and AppSally.
The brokers have now stopped their fraudulent schemes targeting Amazon customers in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.
As a part of its continued effort to ensure a safe and trustworthy shopping experience, Amazon is now taking legal action against another major fake review broker—Extreme Rebate.
Amazon explained that Extreme Rebate, which is based in Hong Kong, tries to push misleading reviews onto Amazon stores in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Canada.
Ever since Amazon introduced customer reviews in 1995, it has had clear policies that prohibit reviews abuse, including paying for reviewing and soliciting only positive reviews.
“More than 10,000 Amazon employees around the world work to protect our store from fraud and abuse, including preventing fake reviews,” Amazon said in a statement.
“We use a combination of machine learning technology and skilled investigators to analyse each review before it’s displayed. As a result, well over 99% of products viewed in our store contain only authentic reviews.”
However, it said that like many stores and websites that value and share customer feedback, it too faces a complex challenge from fake review brokers.
By taking legal action, Amazon hopes to targets the source of the problem – sending a clear message that it will hold fake review brokers accountable.
“Our expert investigators, lawyers, analysts, and other specialists track down brokers, piece together evidence about how they operate, and then file lawsuits to get them shut down. Our goal is to provide the best shopping experience for our customers, and this strategy of shutting down fraudsters is working.”
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